Cake decorating DNA

For the past 2 weeks, I've been house-sitting my parent's house as the rest of the family have joined the clan on a trip to the Silk Road. Much as I would love to see Tibet and North-West China, I declined the holiday invitation as the idea of holidaying with 20-odd relatives would be too close for comfort. Just imagine having to put up with, at times, naggy aunts, grumbling uncles, naughty little cousins and bored teenaged cousins. Well, you get the idea - a pretty stressful family holiday.

Anyway, my mum left a stack of old cookbooks from (her teaching days as a home science teacher )and some really old 'Tala' decorating tips for me before she left for the airport. Among the cookbooks are two tattered cake decorating booklets which I remember, as a child, spending hours gazing and dreaming of those beautifully decorated cakes with lovely pink roses and sweet pastel pipings. Those Tala decorating tips are ancient- they were made in the 60s. I've searched the internet and true enough, they are classified as vintage cake decorating tools.

I've grown up with my mum baking and decorating my birthday cakes. As a child, I've always looked forward to every birthday occasion in the family because Mummy is going to bake the birthday boy/girl a beautiful cake.

I feel lucky to inherit her cake decorating genes. And I shall carry on the cake decor tradition for the next generation as cakes are happiness!